In crackdown on violence, Chicago police arrest more than 100 in gang raids

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson vowed May 20, 2016, to come down hard on gangs as well as offer more help for drug addicts after the department announced May 20, 2016, that it had arrested nearly 100 people in a gang raid. (WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson vowed May 20, 2016, to come down hard on gangs as well as offer more help for drug addicts after the department announced May 20, 2016, that it had arrested nearly 100 people in a gang raid. (WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune)

In a crackdown on the city's burgeoning violence, Chicago police have carried out an extensive gang takedown, arresting more than 115 people on the department's "strategic subject list" — those believed to be most prone to violence.

Just last week, after the bloodiest weekend since he became superintendent, Eddie Johnson said much of the bloodshed is being driven by about 1,300 people on the list, compiled with the aid of a computerized algorithm.

Calling the initiative the Police Department's "largest raid in recent history," Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said 140 people were arrested primarily on narcotics and weapons charges starting at 4 a.m. Thursday in the violence-plagued Harrison and Austin patrol districts on the West Side.

Police were targeting the Traveling Vice Lord and Four Corner Hustler street gangs in the crackdown. About 95 documented gang members were arrested, Guglielmi said.

In addition, all but 23 of those arrested Thursday were on the strategic subject list, police officials said.

"Those individuals need to know that if they don't choose to take an alternative lifestyle then we'll bring everything we have at our disposal, including our federal partners to come at them to put the weight of the Chicago Police Department on them to stop them from driving the violence in our city," Johnson said at a news conference Friday at police headquarters.

The algorithm used in compiling the list ranks the individuals on their susceptibility to violence. Some of those factors are their criminal background, their parole or warrant status, and any weapons or drug arrests. The department also takes into consideration their known acquaintances — and the acquaintances' arrest histories — and whether any of those associates have been shot in the past.

Confronted with the bloodiest weekend in Chicago since being named police superintendent six weeks ago, Eddie Johnson on Monday called the gun violence "completely unacceptable" and said the dozens of shootings highlight "the uphill battle" confronting police.

More than 50 people were shot, eight...

(Jeremy Gorner, Alexandra Chachkevitch and Megan Crepeau)

Police said 21 of those arrested in the raid have been calculated to be at least 300 times more likely than the average person to become a victim or offender of violence.

In addition to the 140 arrests, Johnson said officers recovered more than $45,000 worth of heroin and cocaine and more than 20 illegal guns.

The superintendent acknowledged that police focused the operation on Harrison and Austin because they're considered two of the five patrol districts that are driving the most violence in the city.

Through Sunday, Harrison led all 22 police districts in the city with 32 homicides, more than triple the 10 slain a year earlier, official Police Department statistics show. In Austin, 17 people were killed, up from four just a year earlier.

Shooting incidents have risen to 159 in Harrison, more than double the 66 a year earlier, the statistics show. Austin reported 93 shooting incidents, nearly triple the 34 posted a year earlier.

By comparison, homicides have risen citywide to 216, up 62 percent from 133 a year earlier. Shooting incidents jumped to 1,062, up 60 percent from 665 a year earlier.

Johnson considered Thursday's raid a "major mission" as the department prepares to combat the expected rise in violence over the summer months.

"I'm always concerned about upticks in violence and, you know, with the warmer weather, you're gonna have more people out there and more possibilities for disturbances that turn into violent confrontations," Johnson told reporters.

Just after the news conference ended, Johnson responded to a shooting down the block from police headquarters that left one killed and another wounded — the latest example of the department's challenges in staying ahead of the violence.

Asked at the news conference if more police officers on the street were the answer, Johnson wasn't ready to make that concession.

"We have to ensure that we use our resources effectively and efficiently," he said, "and after I'm convinced that we've done that, then we can move on to the next piece of that puzzle."

A version of this article appeared in print on May 21, 2016, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Police arrest more than 115 in gang raids" —
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